Child's Play
by Braveartemisknight
Summary: In which Natsu finds the joys of being a kid again much to Lucy's displeasure. It's just like the good old days containing nothing but whacky hijinks, cross-dressing men, and fluff. How did Fairy Tail ever survive with the child Salamander running around? Nalu with some Gruvia.
1. Child's Play

"She tried to restore the magic that—"

"—hey Lucy what's this?—"

"—she tried to restore the magic that—"she repeated, ignoring her partner as he tested out her assortment of makeup.

"—Luuuucy~ come on, I'm boooooored—" he whined.

"—she tried to res—DAMN IT NATSU! Go play somewhere else!"

Jutting out his lower lip he gave her the best puppy dog look he could muster as he sat on the bed. Taking a deep breath, the blonde haired maiden ignored it as she glowered darkly at the dragon slayer. She wouldn't give in this time. Nope, not even an inch.

"Luce, I'm booooored~ Happy is out with Charle and Wendy, Gray is on a mission with Juvia, and Erza is busy trying out that new bakery." He groaned falling on the mattress.

"I fail to see where the problem is." Lucy huffed, crossing her arms underneath her chest. Natsu lifted his head to glare back at her.

Placing her book on the desk she turned to face the pink haired pyro, "Natsu, I understand that you're bored. But crashing into my room whining like a little kid isn't going to solve anything!" Lucy scolded earning an eye roll.

"Honestly, sometimes I feel like I have a child for a partner… Why don't you ever act your age?" a sudden thought clicked in her head.

"Say… how old are you anyway?" she asked eyeing him quizzically.

"What difference does it make?" He shrugged sitting up on his forearms "Are you going to entertain me or what?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"_Please?_"

"No, Natsu. Now would you _please_ leave, I would like to finish reading my story in _peace_." Natsu pouted at her before following her orders; exiting through the window ignoring her protests of using her door before he took off.

* * *

Walking down Strawberry Street, he kicked an empty can grumbling about his friends abandoning him.

Even Lucy his best friend didn't want him around. He could understand the exceed needing a little time off from his foster-father, or Gray making a promise to Juvia. Erza he didn't even want to question…

But for Lucy to reject him was like a punch straight to his gut.

He admitted that he did pick on the key-wielding mage once too many times and the constant break-ins were a bit tad annoying if he were in her shoes. He couldn't help it though. She brought an immense feeling of joy and excitement to the dragon slayer when they were together from the first day he met her.

Igneel had once told him about this kind of feeling being described as 'Love' when he was young. That the one who made him feel this way would become his mate.

So why did she not want him around?

He would change then, if it were for Lucy. Natsu hummed in concentration as he thought of what she said before kicking him out. She said something about his age…

"I got it!" Taking off high-speed, the fire wizard made his way to the nearest magic shop.

* * *

Lucy sighed glancing over at the clock; it had been hours since she last saw the hyperactive flame head and she was beginning to worry. Perhaps she was a bit hard on him.

"I didn't mean to overreact; I just wanted a little time to finish reading the book Levy-chan gave me." She reasoned to Plue watching as he sat on her bed munching on a lollipop.

"Still… I suppose I should have let him stay. I could always finish reading the book later." Plue tilted his head at his master.

Spotting a dark silhouette appear in the window the spirit shivered in fear. Lucy noticed the startled snow dog's gaze before turning around in her chair to see her window open.

"Huh? That's weird. That wasn't open before…" the female wizard walked over shutting it closed.

"Lucy…"

Upon hearing her name, amber eyes flashed with fear. 'Is it a ghost? I don't think I read that in the description for this place. I'm too young to die!'

Swallowing the large lump in her throat she spun around placing one hand on her keys summoning the Nikola back as she turned her head around to look around for the intruder.

"E-ehehehehe… must be my imagination."

"Luuuuuucy~" the voice spoke again causing the girl to shut her eyes shrieking in terror. "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME MR. GHOST!"

"Ghost? Where?"

'That voice… wait a second…' her eyes snapped open before noticing a small blob of pink.

"N-Natsu?!"

Glancing down, Lucy stared in shock at the little boy looking up at her. His signature outfit was much bigger on him in his child-form all except for his scarf. Little Natsu's face scrunched in confusion at the girl's expression.

"What?"

"What? _What?_ Do you know that you're a kid again?! What happened?"

Natsu placed his hands on his hips before he spoke, "Yep, just like you told me to Lucy you said: "be more like a kid," remember?" he grinned.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lucy tried to calm herself from strangling the infant. Surely murdering a child was NOT on her bucket list.

"Natsu… I never said to become a kid." She deadpanned, "I said that you _act_ like one." She watched as her partner gave an unintelligible answer before coming to the realization.

"W-w-wait, I can't be a kid again! That means I'm not as strong anymore! I can't fight Gray like this, much less go on missions!" the little boy cried tugging on his pink spikes.

"You should have thought about that before you did… whatever you did. How did you get younger anyway?" Lucy asked.

"Oh, you see I went to this magic shop in town and they had this candy there that the store keeper said would make me young. He said something about only needing one, but I took four just in case." Lucy stared at him in disbelief.

"WHAT?! What do you mean you just took _four_? He told you to take **one**! Seriously, four?"

The little boy shrugged at the older mage before climbing on top of her bed, kicking his sandals off in the process. "It might be great being a kid again though. I can have you to take care of me Luce."

She blushed furiously at this before marching over to scoop up the protesting boy, dropping him roughly on the wooden floor. Natsu rubbed his sore back, before glaring up at her.

"What did you do that for?"

"Listen here Natsu, if you think that I'm just going to babysit you until we find a cure then you are _sorely_ mistaken. Now just go home and wait for Happy tomorrow to look for a cure." She said, towering over her smaller partner.

"Don't wanna! Besides Happy said he wouldn't be back until tomorrow afternoon and... its dark out Luce. You wouldn't send a child out at night all alone... would you?" he whimpered, giving her his cutest pout.

Although she hated to admit it, Natsu looked adorable as a kid and his pout made her almost breakdown and glomp him. But she was a dignified woman, raised to be civil and understanding.

She would not be easily persuaded by a mere child.

He watched as her hardened stare softened reluctantly giving in. With a victory yell, he bounced up and down on the comfy mattress.

"I'll go take a bath then…" Lucy sighed making her way to the bathroom.

"Sounds like a good idea, maybe I will too."

"What? Fine then, take your stupid bath! I'll just go after you." He tilted his head in response.

"What's wrong? I thought you were going?"

'Yeah, I was going to take a bath until you decided to want one too!' The blonde stopped in her tracks at this.

'Wait a minute…'

"Natsu…You're not thinking about bathing with me… are you?" she asked eyeing the pink haired boy as he flashed his signature smile in return.

"Yup!"

"YOU PERVERT!" she delivered a Lucy kick less powerful than her normal ones.

* * *

Throwing on her pajamas consisting of black shorts and a pink tank top Lucy hopped inside her warm bed. The bathroom door's squeak alerted her of the small dragon slayer that had nothing but a towel around his hips.

"Natsu you cannot just go around dressed like that in my room! Go put some clothes on would you?" she seethed chucking whatever she could find at the boy.

"That's the problem; I don't have any other clothes!" once the objects stopped flying, Natsu peered up at the blonde.

"I-I see…" Lucy felt her cheeks burning. Grabbing Virgo's key she summoned the celestial spirit requesting children's clothes.

Virgo arrived changing the toddler with lightning quick speed despite her Master's embarrassment, afterwards proceeded back to the spirit world. Natsu glanced down at the pair of overalls and red shirt that had a dragon on it.

'So cute!' Lucy gulped, "Well, that's better." Pulling out an extra blanket and pillow she walked over to the sofa preparing his make-shift bed. "Here you go all—" she began cut off by the sounds of light snoring.

Lucy felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation. Ready to kick him out she opened her mouth to yell closing it shut at the small voice.

"Luce…" Natsu smiled in his sleep. Releasing a small sigh, Lucy crawled into bed turning her back to him.

She figured she'd let him stay in her bed just this once.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of update for Fallen, I will get on that shortly. This idea just came to me when I was reading through one of my old kindergarten books. I just had to jot this down before I lost it! You guys have to understand it was too adorable for me to not write TT~TT please don't be too mad at me… **

**Just for clarification, since Natsu's age is unknown I won't give out his age (he's immortal who needs an age?) so for future reference I'm enlisting him as a six-year-old. But that's not his true age so… yeah. Thank you all for reading and have a nice day! **


	2. It's a Boy!

**A/N: Decided to update this as well, forgive me if I am slow on updating, I suddenly got swamped with school work and now have to dedicate all my time practically to it. :( But whenever I have the time I will be sure to update. I love you guys I really do, its only befitting that I set time for you guys. I would like to thank everyone for all the wonderful support. Well... enjoy!**

* * *

The next Lucy and Natsu went to the guild in hopes that the solid script mage could provide some antidote or cure. They had traveled to the shop earlier on but to their dismay the shopkeeper had vanished, leaving a note explaining he was on vacation.

How convenient.

All around town Lucy kept hearing people talk about her and the small boy.

"My, my, would you look at that?"

"Why, she's just a child."

"That boy looks awfully familiar…"

Lucy ignored the remarks they made as she finally entered the guild with Natsu right by her side clutching on to her hand. The pink haired pyro insisted that they walked this way for fear that he might get lost.

'If only I had that kind of luck…'

"Welcome Lu—EH?! Who is this?" the barmaid asked before turning to the celestial wizard for answers. "C-could it be that… you and Natsu finally got together and had a child all this time?!"

"WHAT?!" they yelled in unison gawking at the takeover mage in unison.

"I-it's not like that at all Mirajane! You see Natsu—" Lucy tried explaining but was cut off by a passing Levy, "Heya Lu-chan how are—HOLY MAVIS IS THAT A CHIBI NATSU?!" A crowd started forming around them as each member examined the pair.

"He looks so much like him; he even has Natsu's clothes!"

"Kid's going be a trouble maker just like his old man."

"Wonder how long they've kept this a secret?"

"Will you all just listen to me?!" the blonde yelled. Silence fell as they all stared at her.

"This is Natsu." She pointed to the boy who was being held by Lisanna. "He ate some candy to turn himself young and now he's a kid again. We tried to go back to the magic shop that sold it but the owner wasn't there."

"Hmmm… I see…"

All eyes turned to see their head master nod his head in understanding, "I've only heard of such an item once in my life but I thought it was only a myth. Natsu…"

"Y-yeah gramps?"

"…do you think you can tell me how much that candy was? Come on you have to help me out! I'm not getting any younger!" Makarov cried, causing the guild to comically fall.

* * *

"He looks just like he did when he was younger! You're so lucky to have a little Natsu to take care of you Lucy!" the younger Strauss sibling smiled, giving the boy his second helping of fire chicken.

"You want him you can have him." Lucy sighed.

Taking care of Natsu was tiring work. After bathing (separately of course) she had demanded he sleep on the couch which he argued about for hours. In her half-awaken state she allowed him to sleep in the same bed with her under the condition that he kept to his side.

Who knew he snored loudly even as a kid?

Natsu frowned at his teammates' comment, "No, I don't want anyone else! I only want Lucy! And when I get bigger I'm gonna marry her and we'll have millions and millions of babies together." He spoke before running to his partner's side wrapping his arms around her leg which caused said girl's face to burn.

"My, my, he sure does like you Lucy. Natsu was never that possessive with anyone, even with me." Lisanna said making the female blush even more.

"Natsu stop it you're embarrassing me!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Levy-chan did you find anything?"

"Nothing yet, but I read one of the wrappers that Natsu gave me. The more he stays as a child the more childlike he will become until he will forget his earlier life and will have to start his life over as a kid again." The blue haired mage read, searching through her encyclopedia of magic items.

"WHAT?!" the guild screamed.

"Oops, did I forget to mention that?"

* * *

"Higher, higher!" the little boy giggled as the flying blue cat carried him.

Wendy had finally made it to the guild with the two felines. After they were informed of the Salamanders 'condition' Wendy and Charle agreed to help Levy find a cure, leaving Happy to keep a watchful eye out on the fire breather.

"Natsu I'm getting tired… can we take a break or something?" Happy asked receiving a head nod as he lowered the boy to the ground.

Running off to see his favorite babysitter he made sure to pants Elfman on the way, ignoring the elder male's threats. He loved being a kid again; he could do whatever he wanted without any consequences. All the free food and attention he could receive… what more could you ask for?

Spotting the golden haired female he ran to her side stopping when he noticed a man approach her.

He watched as Lucy laughed at something the man said making Natsu burn with anger. Who was this jerk that thinks he can talk to his Lucy? Clinging to her leg, Natsu scowled up at the stranger.

"Oh, and who is this little guy? Your little brother?"

Lucy giggled before she spoke, "Oh, no nothing like that. He's just my—"

"—Mama who is this man? Make him go away!" she glared at the pink haired child before glancing back up at the dark haired man. "O-oh you have it all wrong he's not my..." Lucy tried to explain but found that the stranger had taken off.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" Lucy scowled; grabbing his cheeks on both sides she stretched his mouth out punishing the dragon slayer for ruining her chances with what could have been her future soul mate.

"I SAH-RY I SAH-RY!"

'He even liked writers too…' she internally sobbed.

"That wasn't funny Natsu! That guy was about to ask me out on a date until you interrupted us. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sowwy Lushy…" the boy apologized.

Happy watched the entire scene enjoying every minute of it. He couldn't have planned this any better himself. "Aye! Lushy sure fits the role for being an Oba-chan."

"Why you…"

"I just want to protect you Luce…" Natsu sniffled, rubbing his tiny fists against his eyes. "I don't want you to ever leave me…"Remembering the fire mage's father, her heart filled with guilt.

How could she be so insensitive to him? Of course he did it to protect her; he had told her before that everyone in Fairy Tail was his family. It only made sense that he would panic at the very thought of her leaving him.

She crouched down to his level, ruffling the rosy spikes affectionately. "Don't worry silly, I won't ever leave you. We're a team remember?"

Natsu's face brightened at her words as he wrapped his arms around her neck emitting a yelp from her. His face snuggled into her neck inhaling the sweet floral scent that was naturally her.

"She liiiiiike's you~"

"Shut it cat."


End file.
